Officials of Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla., tell Florida Today that as many as 40 percent of its pararescuemen will retire over the next two to five years. This is one of the tough-to-pass-the-training battlefield airmen fields that has prompted Air Force recruiters to head to extreme sports events. The usual draw for the unit of three to four new recruits a year, officials tell the newspaper, will no longer suffice. The wing has identified a unit recruiter and painted murals on equipment trailers to help attract attention. (Read the article here.)
The Department of the Air Force is consolidating more than 50 programs supporting its efforts to create a vast battle network into a single $4.5 billion contract vehicle to streamline software and technology integration.
